Leaving the Lodge
Red Crag, Chapter 2:1 - Having promised to obtain the cure for Gilli, Tamsin prepares to leave Red Crag, possibly for the last time
Red Crag is a serialized story that I am creating by playing a solo role-playing game. The main character, Tamsin Stonebreaker, is an iron miner from a small village who is compelled to restore her family’s honor. I have no idea where her story will go. I just create the characters, set the scene, think about what Tamsin will try to do, and roll the dice. Click here if you want to start at the beginning. If not, read on.
Denric sat on the edge of Tamsin’s bed as she knelt on the lodge floor digging through her lodge chest for the things she might need on her journey. Her lodge chest was simple but well-made. Denric had darkened it with iron stain and buffed it to a shine with beeswax. He remembered the look of surprise on her face when he presented it to her the day she left his house. A parent’s gift.
From the floor, Jack watched them both in earnest, panting. Someone had kicked up the fire and the lodge was getting warm.
Old Rede came over and handed Tamsin some food wrapped in oiled cloth.
“It’s just a loaf from today. And some hard cheese.”
“Thank you, Rede. Today’s bread was good.”
Old Rede blushed a bit and waved off the compliment as he moved back to the fire.
Denric leaned down and scratched the mutt behind the ear.
“Ya, I know, boy. She’s lost her mind.”
Tamsin ignored him and shoved a woolen vest and hat into the bag she would strap to her back. Spring nights could be wet and cold.
“It’s almost dusk, you should leave in the morning.”
“And waste half a day?”
Denric sighed. He and Moll had been parents to Tamsin and Becca for nine years. They’d taken the girls into their house even before their father had abandoned them and the village. He and Tamsin both had the wavy dark brown hair, deep brown eyes and tan skin common among Iron Hills folks and he was always pleased when strangers to the village assumed that she was his daughter. Denric would never have said it out loud, but he was overjoyed when Brun ran. In truth, Denric had been raising Tamsin since the day she was born. Brun had been fit for drinking and telling stories around a fire; but not for being a parent.
“It’d be safer.”
“Not for Gilli.”
Tamsin looked at the bed next to hers. Gilli’s pillow cover was stitched with blue cornflowers and little yellow touch-me-nots. More flowers had been carved by Yael into the sides of Gilli’s wooden chest. She looked back at Denric. Tears were pooling in his eyes.
“I’m not trying to prove anything. You know that, right?”
“Ya,” Denric sighed again as he rose, “I know you think that.” Denric leaned over and kissed the top of his foster-daughter’s head. He slapped a hand against his thigh, “C’mon you mutt, let’s see if I can’t find you some scraps.”
Jack scrambled to his feet and looked at Tamsin with his nut-brown eyes. Tamsin rubbed his head, “Go on. Eat what you can before we start.”
Tamsin stood for a moment alone in the back of the lodge. She looked at her bed and smoothed the blanket where Denric sat. She looked at Gilli’s bed and remembered all the times they had lain there face-to-face complaining, joking, and talking about how they were going to do things differently when they were “in charge” of Red Crag. Not that either of them was actually eager for that day to come. They were enjoying their lives as lodgers.
A couple of the other lodgers had gathered nearby with Young Rede and Callin. Callin’s eyes were still red, but somebody managed to get a little smile out of him. Good. Callin and his father had been close. The move to the lodge had been hard for him, but this was where he needed to be now that Phin was gone.
Gone. Tamsin shifted her gaze to her brother Coryn’s bed. It was neatly made and there was nothing sitting on the top of the chest. His leather apron hung on the nearby hook but his winter cloak was gone. Tamsin stared at Coryn’s lodge chest. Coryn made it himself and he was no carpenter. If she looked inside would all of his things be gone?
“Tamsin!” Her thought escaped when Binnie called her name. “Fair Nan wants to see you outside.”
“Ya. Coming.” Tamsin slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door.
“Jack! Come on.”
Outside, Fair Nan and old Alyce waited in the circle near the Speaker’s Stump. Fair Nan was still leaning on the spear. As she and Jack got closer, Tamsin realized it was Coryn’s spear. The one he had dropped before he ran from the fight.
Alyce smiled sweetly. Fair Nan eked out a smile, too.
“So, you’ve got what you need then?” Nan asked.
“Ya, I think so.”
“And, you remember how to get there?”
Tamsin drew a deep breath and let it go.
“I’ll be fine to the old cutting camp by Ice Creek. But then… .”
Alyce spoke, “It’s been some years, you were a girl then. And, it was near the end of summer. It’s mostly forest and hills between Ice Creek and the Skrytin. Things will have changed, so look for the things that wouldn’t have changed.”
Tamsin nodded. “Ya, ya. I remember. We took an old trail downhill to Small Man’s portage on the Skrytin. Then straight across to the wood at the edge of the Wilds.”
Alyce shook her head. “Not straight into the woods. Head down the river a while, morning sun on your left cheek. Look for that twisting tree. That’s where you enter the woods.”
“Ya, right.” Alyce’s words helped, but Tamsin’s memory of the way after the river crossing was not as clear as she would like. But, she did remember the twisted tree that opened the path to Owl’s Rage. All she needed to do was find that tree and she was certain she could find the Fenn settlement.
“It’ll come to you. It’ll come.” Alyce pressed a small herb pouch in Tamsin’s hand. “A few things, just in case. Best be prepared.”
“Thank you.” Tamsin tucked the pouch inside her bag.
As she did, Alyce pointed at it with a crooked finger. “I put in some chick-chick root. They won’t have that there. You can trade. And, show that rael’s egg to Felt Foot. Tell him the edge of the wounds is that same kind of blue-green.”
“Ya, I will. I’ll do that.” Tamsin allowed the old woman to pull her in for a hug.
Alyce’s eyes were watery as she let go. She touched Tamsin’s face, “You remind me of your Gran.”
Tamsin shrugged off the compliment.
Fair Nan chuckled, “I don’t know about that. This seems more like something Gwynne would do.”
Tamsin started to respond but Fair Nan held up a hand, “It’s not meant as an offense. Consider it… an observation to mull over on your journey. After all, her own trip to Owl’s Rage was similarly challenging.”
“Ya,” Tamsin managed a smile, “maybe it’ll help me remember how to get there.”
Tamsin looked up at the sky. If she was lucky, she had a little more than two hours of light left in the day. “Right then, best be going.”
‘Wait,” Fair Nan said. She held out Coryn’s spear to Tamsin. Tamsin stared at it. “Take it. You’ve no idea what… or who… you’ll run into there and back.”
Tamsin reached out and grabbed the spear. Before releasing it, Fair Nan covered Tamsin’s hand with her free hand.
“Journey in Peace, Tamsin Stonebreaker.” Then Fair Nan let go. With a nod, Tamsin turned and walked briskly away. Jack barked and followed.
As dusk settled, Denric and Becca walked with Tamsin for a mile or so down the worn old road that lead to and from Red Crag. Denric carried two unlit pitch torches. Tamsin was wearing soft brown leather pants, a woolen tunic and her light cloak with her leather bag draped over her shoulder. With one hand, she held Coryn’s spear, tapping the ground like a walking stick. Her other hand was in Becca’s tight grip. Tamsin couldn’t remember the last time she had walked hand-in-hand with her little sister.
“Do the Fenn really have beaks like grackles?” Becca asked.
Denric laughed and Tamsin shook her head.
“No. They have noses and mouths just like we do. Their faces are just a little… I don’t know… different from ours.” Tamsin could clearly remember her first impression of the Fenn she met as a child. They had been smaller than most humans, shorter, but also more slender. It’s true their noses were long, thin and curved down, but Tamsin had been most impressed by their prominent eyes - round orbs like polished silver with vertical slits in the center.
“With blue skin?” Becca inquired.
“I guess some do, but the ones I saw were more green or gray.”
“If I was green, I’d hide in the trees all day so Moll couldn’t put me to chores.”
“Ha! That’d get her steamin’.” Denric spoke for the first time since they left the village. “Your mom told me that the Fenn are excellent hunters. They’ve got sharp eyes and endless patience.”
“And, they can hide in trees all day.”
Becca pondered that for a moment. “Seems unfair to the animals. Do they at least stink real bad?”
“No!” Tamsin looked down at Becca, “Where do you get all these ideas?”
“Coryn. He says Fenn are half bird, half weasel and live in trees. He says they smell like burning resin and have beaks full of sharp teeth.”
Denric snorted a laugh. Tamsin didn’t.
“Coryn says a lot of things that aren’t true.”
The three walked in silence for awhile after that.
Finally, Becca asked, “Is he coming back?”
Tamsin kept her answer to herself.
Denric answered, “We don’t know, Becca. We don’t know why he ran or where he is or what he was thinkin’.”
“But, if he did come back to Red Crag, would he be allowed?”
Denric considered his answer before he spoke. “Well, he broke Faith with us. In a serious way. I ‘spose it would depend on why he did it. You know, what he had to say for himself. Then, it’d be up to the village whether to let him back or not.”
“If it was up to you, would you let him back?”
Denric put a reassuring hand on Becca’s shoulder. “It would depend on what he said and how he said it, I guess.”
Becca looked up at Tamsin. “Would you?”
Tamsin shrugged. She felt Becca’s grip release as she pulled her hand out of Tamsin’s. Tamsin stopped.
“I don’t know what’s happened with Coryn. And, imagining what happened or why or what might happen if he comes back, none of it matters to me right now. I do know what’s happening to Gilli. She’s dying. That’s what matters to me right now.”
Tamsin turned to Denric.
“I appreciate you walking with me this far, but the turn off is just around the bend and I need to pick up the pace.”
Denric handed her the torches, “You’ll need these if you try to make the old camp tonight.”
“Thanks.”
“Moll told me to tell you that you can’t save Gilli if you get yourself killed first. So… .”
“Be careful. Ya, tell her I’ll try.”
“I already told her your Faith is strong, so you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks.”
Tamsin knelt down to hug Becca. Tears were already trickling down Becca’s cheeks and she threw her arms around Tamsin’s neck.
“I’ll be back soon. Peace and Faith ‘til then?”
Becca let go and nodded bravely, “Ya.”
“That includes doin’ all Moll’s chores, you know.”
“Ya, ya.”
With that, Tamsin turned and jogged down the path. Denric and Becca watched until she disappeared beyond the bend.
Tamsin’s just getting started and so are you!
Click here for the next episode: The Way Forward
The Game Behind the Story 2:1
In roleplaying games, players act through their player characters (PCs). This done either through the process of roleplaying or through the use of the game mechanics.
Roleplaying, is just that. You think about what your PC would say or do, then you narratively describe it, and it happens. In a normal multi-player game, roleplaying (or RP to us drama-loving geeks), is often the heart of an RPG session. The GM sets the scene and the players say what their PCs do, the GM says what the non-player characters (NPCs) say and do, and, so on, and so on. It’s a conversation. A continuous exchange of action and reaction, expression and response. It’s improvisational acting and storytelling. Some players speak in first person as their characters (“I will never surrender!” and I jump off the balcony). Some speak in third person (Jason tells the captain of the guard that he will not surrender and then leaps off the balcony). Most players do some combination.
So, what does roleplaying look like in a solo RPG session? For me, I picture Tamsin Stonebreaker in the scene. If there are NPCs, I picture them, too. If there’s action, I picture it in my mind. It’s pretty cinematic with establishing shots, full shots, close ups, shifting points of view and angles, panning, and zooming in and out. For context or key moments, I try to engage all of my imaginary senses - sounds, tastes, lighting, temperature, smells, and the way things feel. If there’s a conversation, I usually imagine the heart of it as dialogue by flipping from first person to first person. (In case you’re wondering, I don’t talk out loud, but I do often move my lips.) This episode involved a lot of that kind of roleplaying.
I take notes while I’m playing, but not every detail or every word. But, enough that when I go back to fully write the scene, I can do a pretty good job of recreating the roleplay that happened in the game. Sometimes, there are gaps in the story and I flesh them out when I write the episode.
This episode was very roleplay heavy. I wanted to spend time with Tamsin as she prepared to fulfill her vow to go to Owl’s Rage and try to get a cure for Gilli. I wanted to make sure I understood her motivations for taking on this dangerous task. Is it just a matter of family pride? Is she trying to make up for Coryn’s failure to protect the caravan? Is she bristling from Yael’s insults? Or, is it because she loves Gilli? But, I also really wanted to let the stakes sink in. If she fails to fulfill her vow, she can’t return to Red Crag. Not to the lodge. Not to Denric. Not to Becca.
Game mechanics come into play when I want to inject uncertainty into the storyline or when the situation poses a challenge for which there is some kind significant risk or reward for the PC. In Ironsworn (and many other RPGs), PCs act by making moves. There are about 30 moves. Adventure moves focus on the journey: planning, facing danger, foraging, making camp, gathering information and traveling. Relationship moves focus on interactions with people and communities: persuading people to do things, challenging someone, spending time in communities, getting and giving help, forging and testing bonds. Fighting is a big part of most RPGs and this is handled using Combat moves. In the course of the game, the PC will experience setbacks that cause physical or emotional harm, they may run out of supplies or even face death. These situations are resolved using Suffer moves. Ultimately, the core way that the PC progresses through the game is by swearing vows, making progress on those vows, and, either fulfilling or failing them. These are the Quest moves.
In this episode, I made one move: Secure an Advantage. This move is used when the PC is assessing a situation, making preparations, or somehow trying to create an edge or opportunity. Here, I imagined Tamsin getting together her supplies with the help of Denric and other members of the community. I rolled a miss, meaning Tamsin’s preparations were somehow not enough. I decided this meant that she had forgotten to pack something important, but, I didn’t decide what that thing was. I decide that in the moment that Tamsin reaches into her pack in search of something.
I’m really enjoying the process of playing this game, writing the story, and thinking about how the game shapes the story. I would love your feedback.
I could really feel the emotion and connection between Denric, Tasmin, and Becca. It increased the tension and sadness of Tasmin’s departure . Now I am in suspense wondering what important thing Tasmin forgot in her rush to get out! I’m looking forward to the next episode!
I went back and reread all the chapters before reading this one. What an exciting story! I'm already scared of the big woman with the poison blade🫣